Student Blog

SCAB Shoe in – By @UntiedEye

SCAB Shoe in

Shoe In (The art of reselling)

Special edition sneakers are now only released behind a load of barriers. They’re put out in very limited numbers and only at a few stores that have their own raffle systems or hoops to jump through for purchase. With those restrictions comes added value. These shoes are already worth more than the retail price before they drop because the demand far outweighs the supply. And there’s always collectors willing to pay.

That demand means there are kids happy to wait in line outside, sometimes days just to secure a pair.

Long before the Internet turned reselling into something anyone could jump on we, saw the first signs of reselling in metropolitan cities like New York. As local streetwear shops in the ‘90s became keen to the level of demand there was around their footwear they started to bend the rules a little bit selling hype pairs under the table to local kids before the shoes actual release dates. And they did this all for a premium, of course, meaning you kinda had to throw some cash at them to grease your pair out the door.

Although it might sound a little shady the situation made sense to ease the burden of the financial situation of these local retailers suffering under the pressure of big chain stores while offering peace of mind to regulars who just wanted to own a pair of limited edition trainers.

Nike wasn’t really pleased with this and began pulling accounts with suspected retailers further driving the exclusive and elusive nature of the sneaker game.

On the other side, the sneaker-obsessed consumers were only looking out for themselves and for good reason. If you’ve ever gone home empty-handed after a sneaker release you know it makes you wanna do anything you can to make sure it never happens again.

And this is how the sneaker reselling community began to take shape. Competing with overwhelming demands sneakerheads had to figure out how to not just secure one pair but two or three pairs; one to rock, one for stock and then another pair to flip because you’ve just spent a tonne on shoes and have to make some money back. It wasn’t really about making big money but you needed money to play the game and this was one way to do it and got the pair of shoes you really wanted.